We got up early this morning and decided to run to Sam’s Club.  Our forecast has been right-on-the-mark with the extreme temperatures but snow has been more miss than hit.    I didn’t even think of snow as we left.    It was a surprise when we got to town and this occurred within minutes. …and it was a slippery bit of snow.  This was the Walmart/Sam’s Club parking lot.

We grabbed a few things and headed back to Mendota.     Mendota is located in “Poor Valley” and you must travel downward to get here from Bristol or Abingdon.   We drove on Nordyke Road which twists and turns.  I’m always amused when I hear newcomers talk about Nordyke in the winter…they should have seen it before it was improved many years ago.  I barely remember it, but no one used it in bad weather.

Speaking of bad weather and our extremely cold temperatures, my sister, Pat, has this thing figured out. There has been a mix-up. Obviously we have been mistakenly given Michigan’s weather, while her son, Cory, has Virginia’s weather where he lives in Texas. I believe there are plans in place at the end of next week for Texas to return Virginia’s weather; and we will, of course, ship Michigan’s right back where it belongs.

It’s pretty driving down Nordyke…I had the camera and took some pictures.

Another…some of these pictures are blurry on the left side because we were moving when I snapped them…

Lots of frozen water falls..really pretty this time of year.

After a few miles, the land levels.  Here’s the Nordyke Creek as that leveling occurs.

Nordyke Creek flows into the North Fork.  I took this from the truck while stopped on the Nordyke Bridge.

Stopped at one of the Swinging Bridges to look around.

Gray, dreary and really pretty at the same time.

Another taken from the bridge…facing the opposite direction. The Barker family had a mill at this location near the turn of the century.

And now…home. This was taken in front of the house.

Our cats, which normally stay out a great deal of the time, have been mostly “in” for days.   Boredom has set in.  Mike yelled at Sam the Cat for playing in the dog’s water bowl. Within minutes, he was elsewhere up to his naughty business.  He’s not drinking; he’s tossing water around.